City school board sees timeline of five-year development plan

Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 11:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 12:12 a.m.

Tuscaloosa City Schools Superintendent Paul McKendrick presented the school board with an 11-month timeline detailing the planning process for the system’s new five-year capital plan.

The timeline includes immediate plans to create an advisory committee composed of representatives from all school system stakeholders, and hiring a firm that will conduct a demographics study of every school grade by grade, will conduct a facilities analysis and will make recommendations for any necessary school district rezoning.

McKendrick said the purpose of the demographics study, facilities analysis and rezoning is to benefit every student and school in the system.

“The point has to be that we are doing this for the betterment of our school system and the betterment of the community and curriculum and instruction,” McKendrick said. “You hired me to improve this system, and this process and practice will get us there.”

Tuscaloosa City Board of Education Vice Chairwoman Earnestine Tucker said that demographics studies and rezoning are sensitive subjects for a lot of people in Tuscaloosa. She advised McKendrick to be careful about how he handles the project and to be transparent with the community in everything that the system does involving it.

“This is a very serious thing, and I know all of you weren’t here before, but when we start talking about reassignment, which is a new word for rezoning, it is emotional, it’s difficult and to say the least, it’s very necessary,” she said. “So we have to be very, very careful how we do this.”

Board Chairman Lee Garrison said he’s very excited about the process.

In his short time as board chair, Garrison said he’s heard numerous people complain about the system’s old, inadequate, overcrowded and under-utilized facilities, so he’s glad that they’re finally coming up with a plan to update them.

“This is very exciting that Dr. McKendrick has presented this to us,” Garrison said. “... Really this is a five-year planning process that looks out for 20-30 plus years from the standpoint of facilities because we have a lot of facilities that have outlived their life.”

By the end of March, the timeline calls for advisory and steering committee to have been created. Once those committees are in place, they’ll help further guide the capital planning process.

Also by the end of March, any firm interested in conducting the system’s demographics study and facilities analysis must send the system a letter of intent. If the letter is not sent by 5 p.m. March 31, system officials will not consider the firm as a candidate.

Once the letters of intent are accepted, the firms will have until April 18 to turn in proposals on why they should be hired.

During the week of April 21, interviews will be conducted with the final group of firms selected. McKendrick will recommend to the board the firm he wants to hire May 6.

The firm selected will be expected to conduct a demographics study at each school and predict student population projections for the next 10 years.

The firm’s other expected duties include providing attendance boundary zones for current and future schools, conducting committee and community meetings, developing recommendations for the use of current and future schools, geo-coding, meeting with city and regional planners and realtors, analyzing zoning maps, analyzing available land, project future housing and making recommendations for facility renovations that support project-based teaching at every school.

According to the timeline, the firm will be expected to report the preliminary demographics report findings to the school board in September or October. The firm will then report the updated results of the demographics study to the board in mid-December.

From there, the board will use the information to revise its capital and strategic plans, the advisory and steering committees will meet to discuss the study, the firm’s findings will be presented to the community and in January or February, the firm’s final demographics report and facilities and zoning recommendations will be given to the board for discussion or approval.

<p>Tuscaloosa City Schools Superintendent Paul McKendrick presented the school board with an 11-month timeline detailing the planning process for the system's new five-year capital plan.</p><p>The timeline includes immediate plans to create an advisory committee composed of representatives from all school system stakeholders, and hiring a firm that will conduct a demographics study of every school grade by grade, will conduct a facilities analysis and will make recommendations for any necessary school district rezoning.</p><p>McKendrick said the purpose of the demographics study, facilities analysis and rezoning is to benefit every student and school in the system.</p><p>“The point has to be that we are doing this for the betterment of our school system and the betterment of the community and curriculum and instruction,” McKendrick said. “You hired me to improve this system, and this process and practice will get us there.”</p><p>Tuscaloosa City Board of Education Vice Chairwoman Earnestine Tucker said that demographics studies and rezoning are sensitive subjects for a lot of people in Tuscaloosa. She advised McKendrick to be careful about how he handles the project and to be transparent with the community in everything that the system does involving it.</p><p>“This is a very serious thing, and I know all of you weren't here before, but when we start talking about reassignment, which is a new word for rezoning, it is emotional, it's difficult and to say the least, it's very necessary,” she said. “So we have to be very, very careful how we do this.”</p><p>Board Chairman Lee Garrison said he's very excited about the process.</p><p>In his short time as board chair, Garrison said he's heard numerous people complain about the system's old, inadequate, overcrowded and under-utilized facilities, so he's glad that they're finally coming up with a plan to update them.</p><p>“This is very exciting that Dr. McKendrick has presented this to us,” Garrison said. “... Really this is a five-year planning process that looks out for 20-30 plus years from the standpoint of facilities because we have a lot of facilities that have outlived their life.”</p><p>By the end of March, the timeline calls for advisory and steering committee to have been created. Once those committees are in place, they'll help further guide the capital planning process.</p><p>Also by the end of March, any firm interested in conducting the system's demographics study and facilities analysis must send the system a letter of intent. If the letter is not sent by 5 p.m. March 31, system officials will not consider the firm as a candidate.</p><p>Once the letters of intent are accepted, the firms will have until April 18 to turn in proposals on why they should be hired.</p><p>During the week of April 21, interviews will be conducted with the final group of firms selected. McKendrick will recommend to the board the firm he wants to hire May 6.</p><p>The firm selected will be expected to conduct a demographics study at each school and predict student population projections for the next 10 years.</p><p>The firm's other expected duties include providing attendance boundary zones for current and future schools, conducting committee and community meetings, developing recommendations for the use of current and future schools, geo-coding, meeting with city and regional planners and realtors, analyzing zoning maps, analyzing available land, project future housing and making recommendations for facility renovations that support project-based teaching at every school.</p><p>According to the timeline, the firm will be expected to report the preliminary demographics report findings to the school board in September or October. The firm will then report the updated results of the demographics study to the board in mid-December.</p><p>From there, the board will use the information to revise its capital and strategic plans, the advisory and steering committees will meet to discuss the study, the firm's findings will be presented to the community and in January or February, the firm's final demographics report and facilities and zoning recommendations will be given to the board for discussion or approval.</p><p>Reach Jamon Smith at jamon.smith@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.</p>